Are You Brave Enough for a Black Accent Wall in Your Living Room? (19 Successful Looks!)

Black can be an intimidating color, but let’s take a look at homeowners and designers who went with their gut, and won! These black accent and feature walls all strike a bold statement in the living room.

Black Living Room Accent Walls features a black wood slat wall covered in vines behind living room furniture with a neon cafe sign that reads "overflow" in the middle

Some of these colors will be true blacks, and others will be soft blacks or off-blacks that give the same feel.

From a more traditional shiplap, to a stunning fireplace or TV wall, I’ve got you covered!

Black Shiplap Accent Walls in Your Living Room

Let’s start with something very of-the-moment, by taking a look at shiplap in black!

First we have a traditional horizontal shiplap moment, in this home by Marissa from @in_vest_homes:

Living Room with Cyberspace on shiplap back wall — Photo Credit: @in_vest_homes

This accent wall looks quite black, but it’s actually Sherwin Williams Cyberspace, which is a deep charcoal.

Black back door and black sliding interior door with shiplap charcoal wall in SW Cyberspace — Photo Credit: @in_vest_homes

Next we have a gorgeous shiplap fireplace wall in Sherwin Williams Iron Ore:

Iron ore on a fireplace wall and media cabinets in a pure white living room with vaulted ceilings and a mustard couch — Photo Credit: @bertrand_residence

I will add the disclaimer that I don’t personally think of Iron Ore as a black paint color, but enough people disagree that I can include it here.

I promise if you paint the feature wall in your living room in Iron Ore, people will ask “What black did you use?” so I suppose that settles it.

Pure White living room walls and ceiling with Iron Ore Fireplace — Photo Credit: @bertrand_residence

The white wall color here is Benjamin Moore White Dove.

You can actually see more of this lovely new build in my post about Sherwin Williams Jasper, which is another deep dark color.

Black Board and Batten Feature Walls

Here we have something shiplap adjacent, with this majestic board and batten living room wall:

A charcoal gray accent wall in sw iron ore in a vaulted ceiling living room — Photo Credit: @tararowemckenna

This home also uses Sherwin Williams Iron Ore as the black on the accent wall and Benjamin Moore White Dove on the rest of the walls.

Sherwin Williams Iron Ore on a vertical shiplap accent wall in a living room with White Dove on the rest of the walls and casual denim colored furniture — Photo Credit: @tararowemckenna

Black Wood Accent Walls in the Living Room

Moving on from shiplap and board and batten (which I do realize are also wood), let’s see some wood slat and geometric style feature walls.

This one is so much my favorite that I put it in the feature image!

Tricorn Black wood slat feature wall with large neon sign that reads "overflow" and creeping vines climb the wall — Photo Credit: @wood_visions

Wood Visions created this inky black wall for a cafe and bar. I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel like tacking up some creeping vines in my living room!

The color for both this wall, and the next, is Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black.

Also by Wood Visions, and also not reallyyy a living room, is this pink and black number:

Tricorn black and Rose (pink) wood slat wall behind a double monitor desk in a large office living room — Photo Credit: @wood_visions

Yes, I know it’s an office…but why couldn’t it be a living room? The pops of color could really be in any shade. Maybe copper or sage?

The pink color used here was Sherwin Williams Rosé.

Geometric Black Accent Walls in the Living Room

Sticking with the wood theme for a couple more minutes, here are some super successful geometric wood designs!

Matte Black wood geometric wall in a living room, painted in Tricorn Black — Photo Credit: @wood_visions

That one is also in Tricorn Black. It is known for being the “blackest black” that Sherwin Williams carries.

Here is another Tricorn Black geometric number, this time by S&L Painting (@slpaintingsf):

Geometric accent wall in Tricorn Black — Photo credit: @slpaintingsf

Black Accent Fireplace Wall in the Living Room

We did already see one fireplace wall when we talked about black shiplap in the living room, but here we have a few more!

This first one is Tricorn Black once again:

Extra white walls Living room with Tricorn black fireplace on back wall — Photo credit: @thehouse_on2060

The white walls in this home are Sherwin Williams Extra White.

This next living room is painted in a favorite off white of mine Sherwin Williams Shoji White, and complemented by the softer black of Sherwin Williams Black Magic.

Shoji White in a great room with black magic beams and fireplace — Photo credit: @piper_stromatt

This next fireplace wall evolved from a dabble in black with the bookshelf:

Greenblack Built ins beside a stone fireplace — Photo credit: @bridlewoodacres

To a full fledged black stone masterpiece:

Pure White on a vaulted ceiling and living room walls, with a floor to ceiling stone fireplace wall painted in Greenblack. — Photo Credit: @bridlewoodacres

The color in this living room is Sherwin Williams Greenblack, which as described, is a green black. The rest of the walls are Sherwin Williams Pure White.

Living Rooms That Feature a Black TV Wall

While many fireplace walls also feature TV’s, let’d devote a little time to some black TV feature walls specifically.

This one is in Tricorn Black again:

Tricorn Black Board and Batten panels frame a stone fireplace wall — Photo credit: @thehouse_on2060

How about something that really puts the TV front and center?:

Lit TV wall made with wood slats and painted in black — Photo Credit: @wood_visions

This one didn’t say what color it was, but Wood Visions regularly uses Tricorn Black, and that’s what it looks like.

Back for a splash of SW Iron Ore on this media wall:

Iron Ore looking a little more olive green gray on an accent wall and media cabinets in a living room with white furniture — Photo Credit: @west_and_co

This room by @West_and_co has a bit of everything going on! Skinny shiplap, cabinets, and a TV.

In a similar vein, here is a black media wall in a living room with painted brick and cabinets, but where the fireplace is actually white:

Tricorn Black painted brick wall in the living room with beige furniture and a white fireplace — Photo Credit: @leanne.zieglerdesign

Matte Black Accent Walls in the Living Room

Finally, let’s take a look at some feature walls where the finish is super deep dark and matte!

Here we just have a sliver of the black wall in the living room by @ludic_living:

Tricorn Black Accent wall in a living room beside a white front entrance with coats hanging under a wooden shelf — Photo Credit: @ludic_living

Using a black paint in a matte finish will make the color recede that extra little bit.

A lot of people say that colors look darker in a glossy finish, but I find black to be an exception. The matte finish really eliminates any light reflectance.

This next room by @my_decor_journal is painted in the off white Benjamin Moore Dove Wing. The black is Benjamin Moore Twilight Zone.

Dove Wing in a north facing room looking cool and gray with Benjamin Moore Twilight Zone black on an accent wall — Photo Credit: @my_decor_journal

I don’t know for sure what finish was used, but it looks pretty matte to me. I would guess at the very least it is a velvet finish.

Twilight Zone on two accent walls in an outside corner of a living room and entrance with Dove Wing on the opposite wall and Valspar Snowed In on trim and doors — Photo Credit: @my_decor_journal

Other Ways to Use Pops of Black

As an honorable mention for the undecided, I wanted to share a couple of other ways that you could add black accents to your living room without doing a traditional feature wall.

Black Half Wall and Ceiling

I love this room by Lara of @nest_on_nightingale because it somehow has a lot of personality while staying pretty classic.

Behr Swiss Coffee in a games room with Behr Nightclub black on the ceiling and top 1/4 of the wall — Photo Credit: @nest_on_nightingale

She used Behr Swiss Coffee on the walls and Nightclub on the ceiling. Yes this is a games room, but it could totally be done in a living room too.

Black and White Wood Feature Wall

Let’s say for a minute that all black was too much for you. This geometric wall by Wood Visions is super fun, while still being light and bright.

Sherwin WIlliams Ice Cube and Black Geometric feature wall — Photo Credit: @Wood_visions

The black is Tricorn Black once again, but the “white” is actually a very soft gray by Sherwin Williams called Ice Cube.

Dip Your Toes in With Black Interior Doors

If you can’t decide where to put your black feature wall, maybe go with pops of black accents all over!

The black interior door trend is going strong, and it’s a great way to add smaller statements throughout your whole home.

Graphic reads Spicy Black Interior Doors over a white kitchen with black pantry door

Tips for Doing a Black Feature Wall in Your Living Room

This project comes with a few fairly obvious pros and cons: The first being that black makes a grand statement, but of course, it’s as dark as it gets!

Make sure if you are planning to use black that you have lots of light!

If you don’t have lots of light, this could still work if you are okay with a cozy feeling, rather than big and open.

A black feature wall will also work well if you have a LOT of space. A dramatic floor-to-ceiling moment with a peaked roof can actually make your space seem larger.

White Dove Walls and vaulted ceilings with an Iron Ore black accent wall in a huge modern farmhouse living room — Photo Credit: @tararowemckenna

You can make a black accent wall less overwhelming by adding a lot of light artwork, such as one very large light painting, or creating a gallery wall.

If you have a small space and not as much light, consider color blocking only a part of the wall, or choosing the smallest one.

Urbane Bronze on half of a wall in the living room with SW Pure White on the rest — SW Urbane Bronze Photo Credit: @heyangelafranklin

That’s all I have for this post! Check out these other gooders:

Tricorn Black Feature wall in foyer with round mirror labelled "Tricorn Black"

Sherwin Williams Cyberspace paint dot over nursery with cyberspace ceiling

graphic reads white walls with white trim? How to do it right!